Final Fantasy XIII's Ultima Guides hit retail later today. It appears that the guides have an interview section in which producer Yoshinori Kitase discusses download content.

I haven't seen the guides for myself, but Square Enix fan site FF-Reunion has a report on the interview based off message board posts from someone who picked up the guides in advance. Yes, you're reading a third hand report based off a book that's not even out.

Responding to a question about the possibility of download content, Kitase said that the staff considered downloads during the game's development, but held back after deciding to make it so that everything could be playable in a single package. Also, due to the long development time, they felt that it was their duty to get the game out as soon as possible. Making download content could have lead to a delay in the game's release.

There's a big "but" in Kitase's response, though. FFXIII's programming staff have told him that the game's framework would allow for download content.

Said Kitaise: "If asked if it's possible or impossible, it's possible. However, at present we're not considering it."

Just prior to FFXIII's release, director Motomu Toriyama sparked the speculation flames regarding download content when he posted a message to the FFXIII site suggesting that good things would happen to those who held on to the game for a long time.

More recently, an interview with the art director Isamu Kamikokuryou revealed the presence of a good amount of PS3-ready world data that was left out of the final product for balance purposes.